- City:
- Forest, MS
- Site Type:
- Forestry and Agriculture, Parks and Recreation
- New Deal Agencies:
- Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Conservation and Public Lands, Work Relief Programs, US Forest Service (USFS)
- Started:
- 1936
- Completed:
- 1941
- Quality of Information:
- Very Good
- Marked:
- Unknown
- Site Survival:
- Extant
Description
With Proclamation 2175, June 15, 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Bienville National Forest in Mississippi. This proclamation was part of FDR’s overall effort to create more national forests in the eastern United States.
As with other national forests, the goal of Bienville was “to produce the greatest amount of good for the most people… Fire protection gives the timber a chance to grow so as to produce a merchantable crop; trees are being planted where former logging practise (sic) did not leave the land in a condition to re-seed itself; [and] grazing will be regulated so as to coordinate this land use with timber growing to the advantage of both” (The Newton Record, July 16, 1936). Additionally, recreation areas were planned, including “picnic areas, camp sites, and playgrounds, as well as swimming facilities” (Clarion-Ledger, November 10, 1936).
At least four Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camps were located in Bienville National Forest – camps F-13, F-15, F-18, and F-23. Between 1934 (i.e., shortly before Bienville became a national forest) and 1941, CCC enrollees from these camps created roads, built bridges, constructed fire lookout towers, installed sewer and water lines, carved out firebreaks, fought forest fires, landscaped, and planted five million trees.
Today, visitors to Bienville National Forest can hike, bike, camp, fish, swim, and go boating and horseback riding – all thanks to FDR’s vision, the CCC’s labor, and Forest Service management.
Source notes
“Proclamation 2175 – Bienville National Forest, Mississippi, June 15, 1936,” American Presidency Project, University of California Santa Barbara (accessed January 17, 2024).
“History & Culture,” U.S. Forest Service (accessed January 17, 2024).
“Bienville,” U.S. Forest Service (accessed January 17, 2024).
“President Proclaims Bienville Forest,” The Newton Record (Newton, Mississippi), July 16, 1936, p. 1.
“CCC Program Set For Year: Planting in Bienville National Forest Largest Undertaken,” Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, Mississippi), November 10, 1936, p. 5.
“23 Million Pines Will Be Planted,” Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, Mississippi), January 10, 1941, p. 5
Civilian Conservation Corps Annual, District D, Fourth Corps Area, 1938 (Army and Navy Publishing Company, Baton Rouge, Louisiana), pp. 78-81, 194-197, 204, 210.
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